Meet The Unknown, the made-up Glasgow Wonka experience villain who traumatised kids

Beyond the Oompa Loompa diva, there is one runway success story of the viral Glasgow Willy Wonka experience and that is the mysterious villain character known simply as The Unknown. Videos of The Unknown caught everyone’s attention online because if there is one thing no one remembers from any retelling of a Wonka story, it’s a spooky masked figure emerging from behind a mirror like it’s from an A24 horror film. But who the hell is The Unknown? Here’s all you need to know about The Unknown, the Glasgow Wonka villain invented to terrify in all new ways.

‘Oh my god! It’s The Unknown!’

The terrifying presence of The Unknown is basically explained by the script needing a villain for the Glasgow Wonka fiasco, and the character’s backstory is as follows: The Unknown is a rival, evil chocolate maker who lives in the walls. Not inappropriate for children at all, of course.

We’ve seen the full PDF script for the entire show, and The Unknown basically emerges in a section called The Twilight Tunnel. The Unknown causes children to scream in fear, and the Wonka character says “My dear adventurers, we stand on the
precipice of a discovery most wondrous and perilous. For within these ancient walls lurks a tale not yet told, of an evil chocolate maker known only as the Unknown.”

The Unknown is out to steal the Wonka character’s ‘anti-graffiti gobstopper’, and seems to revel in the dirty and the unclean. It tries to recruit a child to help steal it from Wonka.

Later on in the big showdown, Wonka and The Unknown do battle, where Wonka “hoovers up” The Unknown with a vacuum. The actor has said he was told to improvise this.

What else do we know about The Unknown

We know that they look like a cross between The Babadook and the masked figure from Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. We also know that The Unknown was played by a young actor, and she’s going to make a TikTok soon explaining her side of the story.

The Unknown was actually misunderstood

On deeper reflection, is the Unknown really a villain? They look shy and they live in the walls. Maybe they just need a friend.

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• Inside the disastrously bad Glasgow Willy Wonka ‘experience’ that had kids in tears

• ‘It’s embarrassing’: The Oompa Loompa from the Wonka experience has finally spoken out

• Man who played Wonka in Glasgow Willy Wonka ‘experience’ speaks out about the chaos